The present invention relates to radiation shields, and in particular, to shield apparatus having a plurality of X-ray shields which may be placed at selected positions within an elongate X-ray examination zone.
It is one object of the present invention to provide apparatus for shielding selected body areas of a person undergoing X-irradiation in an elongate examination zone.
A more particular object of the invention is to provide apparatus including a plurality of X-ray shields which may be positioned independently within an examination zone, with such positioning being performable without the use of position-locking devices.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide such apparatus which has plural X-ray shields, each of which may be placed selectively at positions outside of, or extending into, an examination zone.
The present invention includes an upright post extending adjacent an elongate, upright examination zone, and a plurality of shield assemblies mounted for shifting along this post to different vertical positions. The assemblies are counterweighted to remain in stable, shiftable states at the positions to which they are moved. Each assembly includes a bracket slidably mounted on the post, a bar attached to, and extending laterally from the bracket, alongside the examination zone, and an arm-mounting member mounted on the bar for shifting therealong.
A shield arm mountable on each mounting member is selectively positionable between an extended position wherein the arm extends laterally into the examination zone, and an upright position, wherein the arm is out of the zone. With the shield arm in its extended position, an X-ray shield mounted at one end of this arm is shiftable relative to the arm-mounting member. Movement of the arm-mounting member relative to the bar, and movement of the shield arm relative to the arm-mounting member, occur in a substantially horizontal plane, and are performable without position-locking devices.